Back-feed mechanism for type-writers.



A. STIEG. BACK FEED MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, 191i.

1,018,995. Pate ntedjFeb. 27, 1912.

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A. STIEG.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.17, 1911.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

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plishes the operation of feeding the carriage device.

lnventlon is to provide means for actuating STATES PATENT OFFICE.

(30., OF WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BACK-FEED MECHANISM FOR TYPE-WRITERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 17, 1911.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Serial No. 615,109.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST STIEG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Woodstock, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Back-Feed Mechanismfor Type-VVriters, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a mecha nism adapted to move thecarriage of a typewriter in a backward direction, that is, in adirection the reverse from that to which itis moved during the ordinarywriting 'operation, and is commonly termed a back feed mechanism.

The objects of the present invention are, to provide a mechanism whichwill be posi tive in its action and will not permit of any slippage ofthe carriage during the back feeding operation, and which will operatein a manner to insure the movement of the carriage the same distance ateach operation of the back feeding mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which is simpleof operation and cheap of manufacture.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for limiting thethrow of the back feeding mechanism and to adjust said limiting means soas to make the throw of the back feeding mechanism the correct distanceto insure a proper actuation of the And a still further object of thethe dog which engages the rack to effect the back feed with aninitiatory movement, which will throw it into engagement with the teethof said rack so that before the forward movement of the dog to feed thecarriage is effected, a positive engagement will have been made betweenthe teeth of the rack member and the dog.

The invention further relates to the features of construction and thecombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing the mechanism of the presentinvention in normal position; Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1, showingthe parts in the position they assume when the dog is initially movedinto position to engage the teeth of the rack bar; Fig. 3, a viewshowing the position the parts assume when the dog has been thrownforward to its limit of movement and accomon which it is mounted, andthe member which actuates the dog; and Fig. 5, a secion on line 55 ofFig. 8, looking in the direction of the arrow.

In typewriting machines there is usually provided some form of mechanismfor the purpose of imparting a backward movementto the carriage. This isknown as the back feed mechanism. Difiiculty has been experienced withthese back feeding devices in making them positive of action, itsometimes happening that the dogs which form a portion of the mechanismwill not properly engage with the teeth of the rack bar attached Fig. 1,a plan view of the dog, the member to the carriage, and hence thecarriage will.

slip during the. back feeding operation, which is detrimental to theproper operation of the device. It is one of the primary objects of thepresent invention to overcome this defect in operation.

Since the present invention can be used with any form of typewriter, itis not deemed necessary to show any more of the typewriter constructionthan is necessary to properly describe and illustrate the features ofthis invention. 7 I

The mechanism of the present invention, as shown, is mounted upon a lug6, depending from the body 7 of a typewriter frame. The particular formof mounting, however, may be varied to meet the requirements of theparticular type of machine to which the present invention may beapplied. The back feeding mechanism comprises what may be termed anacting member 8, a support for of a dog 11, provided with a fingeredpor.-

tion 12 of suitable size and formation to en gage with the teeth 13 of arack bar secured to the carriage. The dog is pivoted at 14: and isprovided along its lower face with a projection 15 provided with slopingfaces 16, and this projection constitutes what may be termed a camsurface on the dog. The dog is secured to and mounted upon a supportingmember, which, in the form shown, comrises an arm-like member 17, whichis pivoted at 18 to the lug 6; and the arm has a movement about thecenter of this latter pivotal point.

The dog, as shown,.lies within a slot 19 formed in the typewriter frame,and the arm 17 is provided with a protuberance 20 adapted, when theparts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, to abut against a wall 21 ofthe slot 19, and thus said protuberance acts as a stop member to limitthe movement of the arm 17 in one direction. The'arm 17 is furtherprovided with a fingered portion in the form of a protuberance 22,which, when the parts are thrown into the position shown in Fig. 3, isengaged by the end of a screw-threaded member 23, and thus theprotuberance 22 serves to limit the movement of the supporting member 17in the opposite direction. The employment of this screw-threaded member23 is deemed to be of importance, since it provides a simple and easymanner of effecting an adjustment in movement of the arm 17 By recedingor advancingthis screw-threaded member, the arm 17 may have a longer orshorter throw, as desired, and thus permit it to have the necessarymovement to properly perform the back feeding operation. The arm 17 isfurther provided with oppositely disposed lugs 24, the function of whichwill be more fully hereinafter stated.

Pivoted at 18 is a bell-crank lever 25, one arm 26 of which is attachedto suitable lever mechanism operated by the back feed key; but sincethis lever mechanism and feed key may be of any suitable construction,neither shown in detail. The other arm 27 of the bell-crank lever liesadjacent to the arm 17, and, as will be seen from a study of thedrawings, lies intermediate the lugs 24. The free end 28 of the arm 27lies adjacent to the dog 11, and in the operation of the de vice, thisacting end serves to impart the initiatory movement to the dog 11, whichbrings its toothed end into engagement wit-h the teeth l3of the rackbar. It will be noted that the arm 27 of the bell-crank lever is of awidth somewhat less than the distance between the lugs 24. This is inorder to permit the bell-crank lever to have a certain amount ofinitiatory movement prior to the engagement of the body of the arm 27with the lugs 24 of the arm 17. This initiatory movement will beutilized in raising the 'dog 11 into engagement with the teeth 13,

so that this engagement is, to all practical purposes, complete beforethe arm 27 engages the lug 24 to swing the arm 17 and force the dog 11forward to impart movement to the rack bar and effect the back feed ofthe carriage.

The operation of the device is as follows: Upon the initiatory movementof the bellcrank lever 25, the acting end 28 of the arm 27 forces itselfagainst the cam surface 16 of the protuberance 15 of the dog 11 andraises said dog into the position shown in Fig.2, bringing the fingeredend of said dog into positive engagement with the teeth 13 of the rackbar. By this arrangement, prior to each feeding of the carriage, theactuating member for effecting such feeding, which in the presentconstruction is the dog 11, is brought into a position to positively andaccurately effect such feeding, thus eliminating any danger of the dogbeing but partially engaged with the rack bar and so allowing a slippagebetween the rack'bar and the dog, which would permit of a greater thandesired movement of the carriage. After the parts have been moved intothe position shown in Fig. 2, a further movement of the bell-crank leverwill cause the body portion of the arm 27 to engage one of the lugs 24of the arm 17 and force the arm 17 and the dog 11 in the direction inwhich the carriage is to be moved, this forward'movement being aroundthe pivotal center 18. Thus an initiatory movement is first imparted tothe mechanism to aline the various parts in proper position to performthe feeding operation, and after such alinement, the continued movementof the parts forces them in a direction and in a manner to effect theproper feeding operation. The

reason for providing two of the lugs 24 is so as to give a surface forthe arm 27 to engage when it is moving the mechanism to perform thefeeding operation, and to give a surface for said arm to engage toreturn the parts to normal position. lVhen the parts are being returnedto normal position, the acting end 28 will first disengage itself fromthe cam surfaces, allowing the dog to fall. A continued movement of thearm 27 will bring it intoengagement with the other of the lugs 24 and soswing the arm 17 and the dog 11 around the pivotal center 18 and c saidcam to elevate the dog into engagement with a rack bar, and means formoving said levers in unison after the initial movement of the connectedlevers, whereby said dog is moved to effect the back spacing operation,substantially as described.

2. In a back feed mechanism for typewriters, the combination of twolevers superimposed uponone another and having a common pivotal center,one of said levers having an operative connection to a key lever, a dogpivotally mounted on the other lever, a cam surface 'on the dog, theupper end of the connected lever engaging said cam to elevate the doginto engagement with a rack bar, and means for moving said levers inunison after the initial movement of the connected levers, whereby saiddog is moved to effect the back spacing operation, substantially asdescribed.

3. I11 a back feed mechanism for typewriters, the combination of twolevers su perimposed upon one another, one of said levers having anoperative connection to a key lever, a dog pivotally mounted on theother lever, a cam surface on the dog, the upper end of the connectedlever engaging said cam to elevate the dog into engagementwith the rackbar, lugs on the dog carrying lever adapted to be engaged by the connected lever after the initial movement thereof, whereby said levers aremoved in unison after such engagement to actuate the dog and effect theback spacing operation, sub stantially as described.

4. In a back feed mechanism for typewriters, the combination of twolevers superimposed upon one another and having a common pivotal center,one of said levers having an operative connection to a key lever, a dogpivotally mounted on the other lever, a cam surface on the dog, theupper end of the connected lever engaging said cam to elevate the doginto engagement with the rack bar, lugs on the dog carrying leveradapted to be engaged by the connected lever after the initial movementthereof, whereby said levers are moved in unison after such engagementto actuate the dog and effect the back spacing operation, substantiallyas described.

5. In a back feed mechanism for typewriters, the combination of twolevers superimposed upon one another, one of said levers having anoperative connection to a key lever, a dog pivotally mounted on theother lever, a cam surface on the dog, the upper end of the connectedlever engaging said cam to elevate the dog into engagement witha rackbar, means for moving said levers in unison after the initial movementof the connected levers, whereby said dog is moved to effect the backspacing operation, the frame of the typewriter having a slot in whichsaid dog lies, the dog carrying lever extending beyond the dog, and anadjustable stem projecting into the slot and engaging the end of saidlever to limit the movement of the mechanism, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a back feed mechanism for typewriters, the combination of twolevers superimposed upon one another and having a common pivotal center,one of said levers having an operative connection to a key lever, a dogpivotally mounted on the other lever, a cam surface on the dog, theupper end of the connected lever engaging said cam to elevate the doginto engagement with the rack bar, lugs on the dog carrying leveradapted to be engaged by the connected lever after the initial movementthereof, whereby said levers are moved in unison after such engagementto actuate the dog and effect the back spacing operation, the frame ofthe typewriter having a slot in which said dog lies, the dog carryinglever extendingvbeyond the dog, and an adjustable stem projecting intothe slot and engaging the end of said lever to limit the movement of themechanism, substantially as described.

AUGUST STIEG.

Witnesses:

WM. P. BOND, A. J. PRUszYUsKI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

